Cableway-carriage



W. IVI. VENABLE.

CABLEWAY CARRIAGE.

APPLlcATloN FILED FEB. 27. 19:8.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

I.\III/ IIIIIIIIIII /I Patented Nov. I8,

W. IVI. VENABLE.

CABLEWAY CARRIAGE.

APPLICATION man rEa.21.191.

Patented N 0V. 18, 1919.

B SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR.

W. M. VENABLE.

CABLEWAY CARRIAGE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 27. |918.

Patented Nov. 18, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WILLIAM IVI. VENABLE, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO BLAW-KNOXCOMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

GABLEWAY- CARRIAGE.

Application led February 2 To all whom t may conoci/'n Be it known thatI, l/ViLiiiaM M. VicivALn, a citizen of the United States, residing atPittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Cableway-Carriages, ofwhich the following is a speciiication.

lThis invention relates to cableway carriages and more particularly tothat type of carriages used for supporting loads adapted to be suspendedconnecting two separate points and operated by a cable carried on thecarriage and actuated by suitable Winding drum mechanism. This inventioncontemplates certain` improvements in a type `of cableway carriagecommonly knewn as the Alaska trolley e`X- tensively used in mining andin lumbering operations, wherein the carriage is mounted upon aninclined c-afbleway, the lowei' end of the cable being' adjacent thepoint at which the load is taken. A stop is usually mounted upon thecable at a point above the loading place and the carriage is providedwith a latch which automatically grips the stop when the carriage movesinto contact there with by gravity. The load lifting cable is usuallysecured at one end to the carriage and is then reeved over a sheave in ahoisting block and upward over a sheave on the carriage and thence to asuitable operating drum located adjacent the upper end of the cablewaywhich is usually the point for depositing the load. The hoisting blockis provided with a hook, chain, or other means for attaching the load,which may be a skip, an excavating bucket, a log, a bale of merchandiseor any other package which it is desired to transport along thecableway. rlhe carriage usually is provided with a lock for receiving abail, carried by the hoisting block, the lock, while open, serving as ameans for preventing the release of the stop latch, but wheny the lockis actuated by the bail entering into engagement therewith the hookthereof is moved so as to permit the release of the stop lately Thecarriage is usually moved along the cableway in one direction by gravityand pulled to the discharging point by the load lifting cable, so thatwhen the hoisting block bail is locked to the, carriage, paying out ofslack on the cperating cable 'will permit thecarriageto speeicaiion ofLea-ers raient.

from a cableway Y p 111g position, further cable at or near mechanism tothe Patented N ov. 18, 1919.

7, 191s. serial no. 219,481.

` move toward the stop at the lower end of y paying' out ofthe operatingcable will permit the hoisting block to lower. TWhen the operating cableis again pulled te raise the load, the carriage is prevented irommovement until the operation of the lock, by engagement of the bail withthe lock, permits the release of the latch. Then the hoisting block bailhas been drawn to lockpull of the operating cable causes the stop latchto release and the i bail hook to be locked. rlhereiiore the load issecured to the carriage and the carriage is free to be drawn up thecableway.

An automatic or selfwleading bucket may b-e substituted for the liftingblock with bail and hook described in the foregoing. y

The Alaska trolley is limited to the use of one stop by which thecarriage may be locked to the cable, that stop being on the to its lowerend.

It is the purpose of this invention to add Alaska trolley by which thecarriage may be operated between twlo stops, and may be capable ofpicking up its load or of lowering its load, at either stop, and freelytraversing the line between the stops. These stops may be eitherpermanent or movable, so as to be set at will at any desired points uponthe supporting cable.

The invention contemplates a construction and arrangement of latchmechanism adapted to cooperate with a stop placed at any convenientdischarge point adjacent the upper end of an inclined cableWay, in suchmanner that the load hoisting block will be released from the carriage,when the carriage is in its uppermost position, hypermitting thecarriage to back away from the stop a limited distance by reason oi" theaction of gravity. This :form of release mechanism is preferred to arelease mechanism that depends upon the drawing ci" the carriage againstthe stop by means `of the operating cable to cause the release oi the,loa-d, for in such a device there is serious danger of thecarriagebeing drawn against `the stop with such torce that the cablewaywould be broken. Further objects oi' the invention are the provision oiZmechanism that is simple, desirable and etlicient; the

bodiment of the invention is disclosed: in

the accompanying drawings, wherein'- Figure 1 is a side elevation of thecarriage showing the parts in position just prior to the releasingoperation at the upper end of ythe cable; Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe carriage showing the parts in load releasing position; Fig. 3 is aside elevation of the carriage showing the parts in position for holdingthe load and releasingthe carriage from the upper stop;V Fig. 4 is aside elevation of the carriage showing the parts in position forgripping the lower stop while the load is being lowered or lifted; Fig.5 is a plan view of the carriage with the parts in the position shown inFig. 1; and Fig. G is a. diagrannnatic showing of the complete cableway,carriage and bucket, with the carriage held latched to the lower stop asin Fig. 4, and supporting a bucket of the single line type,

Referring to the drawings, with the eX- ception of the mechanism shownat the left end of the figures, 1 to V5 inclusive, the device ispractically' the same as the previously referred to Alaska trolley,-such similar parts consisting of a pair of separarated plates 1 formingthe carriage, between which are pivoted upon shafts 2Athe sheaves 3adapted to roll upon the cableway 4. Adjacent a vertical notch or slot 5arranged near the center of the carriage 1, and between the .plates ofthe carriage, is pivoted a bail or load locking hook 6 provided with ahooked. recess 7 for receiving the bail S of the, hoisting block. l

The hook 6 is also provided with a cam nose 9 adapted to lie across theslot 5 by means of the action of gravity when the hook is in releasedposition, shown in Figs. 2 and 4, so that the hook will be moved tovholding position shown in Figs. 1 and 3,

when the bail 8 is raised so that it enters the slot 5. y

The hook 6 is further provided with two concentric arcuate surfaces 10and 11, the surface 10 terminating` in a stop face 12, and the surface11 terminating in a stop face 13, both of such faces being adaptedtoengage the under side of a horizontally disposed lock bar 14, which,together with the hook y6, cooperate to forni and serve as a bail lock.

The lock bar 14 is mounted for longitudiknal movement between rollers 15which serve as anti-friction guides vfor the bar and prevent verticaldisplacement of the bar. This bar is attached pivota-lly to latch links16 j on either side of the carriage by a pin 17 projecting throughlongitudinal slots 18 cut in the plates 1. i These links are secured atthe right-hand'end to. a s top latch 19, pivoted at 2O between theplates 1 which latch,

normally, occupies the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3 by reason ofbeing pushed down by the pressure of the nose 2G of the latch 19 againstthe stop 22 when the car riage is drawn away from the stop. The latch 19is provided with a notch 21 into which a carriage stop 22, Fig. 4,projects when the latch 19 is moved into the latched position shown inFig. 4.

Assuming that the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 3 with thebail held in the lock, the carriage is permitted, by paying out slack ofthe operating cable 23, to move down the cableway until it reaches thestop 22, when the stop willengage the projection 24 of the latch 2O androtate the latch coun- `ter-clockwise, bringing it to the position I tothe bail block the operating cable 23 is pulled to raise the load. Suchpull would draw the carriage to the left if it were not prevented.Referring to Fig. 4, it will be seen that movement of the carriage tothe left is prevented by the engagement of the nose 2.6 of the latch 19,with the outer face of the stop 22, and that the rotation of the latch19 clockwise is prevented by the lock bai' 14, the left end of which isin engagement with the arcuate surface 11 of the hook 6. Therefore thecarriage will be held to the stop until the bail 8 trips the hook (linto closed position. Then the carriage will he drawn along thesupporting cable, the stop 9.2 rotating the latch 19 clockwise andineviiig the lock bar 14 into the position `shown in Fig. 1, where itholds the hook G in locked position. The carriage may then be drawn tothe upper stop by winding up the operating cable 23.

As previously disclosed it is the purpose of this invention to provide alatch 1ncchanism upon the carriage that will engage a suitable stop 27,Figs. 1, 3 and G, in such manner that after the carriage has been movedinto Contact therewith so that the latch may operate, the load releasingaction. may take place when the carriage is permitted to slack away fromthe stop. This apparatus consists in a lever QS pivoted to the left endof the carriage upon a pivot pin 29 passing through both plates 1thereof. They lower end of the lever 2S is pivotally connected at 30 tothe latch link 1G in such manner that when the latch 19 is oscillatedthe lever 28 will also be oscillated or vice versa. Betweenthe forks ofthe upper end ol the level' 23 is pivoted an articulated latch 31 bymeans of the pivot pin 32. The right end of this latch extends towardthe center of the carriage and is provided with a counterweight 33 whichis adapted to hold the latch normally in the position shown in Figs. 3and 4. The left end of the latch is slotted at 34 to receive a latchhook 35 which is pivoted in the clevis by means of a pivot pin 36. Theoscillatory movement of this latch hook 35 is limited by means oi' a pin37 carried by the latch 31 which pin extends through a slot 33 cutconcentric with the pivot pin 36. The latch hook 35 normally occupiesthe position with respect to the latch 31 shown in full lines in Figs. 1to 4 inclusive,

but referringto Fig. 1 it will be seen that the latch hook 35 is adaptedto be cammed upward by its engagement with the stop 27 into the positionindicated in broken lines.

ln order that the latch 31 shall be in the proper latch position forsecuring thecarriage to the stop 27, and may be in the unlatchingposition shown in Fig. 4 at the proper time for releasing the carriagefrom engagement with the stop 27, a rotary cam 39 is pivoted by a pivotpin 40, upon each of the plates 1, and each cam is provided with twooppositely disposed Contact surfaces 41 and 42 which are adapted, whenin engagement with the under side of the latch 31, as shown in Figs. land 2, to hold the latch 31 in latching position, as shown in thesefigures. When this cam 39 is rotated through y degrees, the latch 31drops by the force of gravity to position shown in Figs. 3 and 4, whichis the releasing position. The cam 39 is adapted to be held in itsoperative positions frictionally or by means of any suitable means. Thecam 39 isadapted to be rotated in one direction only, namely clockwise,this action be ing accomplished by means of a pawl 43 pivoted at 44 tothe latch 31 and provided with a recessed end 45 adapted to successivelyengage round teeth 46'projecting at right-angles from the cam 39.

By a study of Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, it will be seen that the cam 39will raise the latch 31into latching position after every alternatelocking operation ot' the bucket hook 6. ritter a description of theoperation of the carriage the necessity l-or this action ot the latch 31will be seen. The

`complete operation of the carriage is as follows: Assuming that thecarriage is in locking relation with the stop 22, as shown in Fig. 4,and thatthe load has been raised by winding upthe cable 23 so that thebail has tripped the hook 6 as in the operation previously described,the carriage will then be free to be moved toward the lett until itengages the stop 27-shown in Fig. 1. .lust prior to its engagement withthe stop 27 the parts of the carriage will occupy the position shown inlull lines in Fig. 1. After the carriage is further drawn to the leftinto engagement with the stop 27 it will be `seen that by reason ofengagement ci' the `inclined face 47 of the latch hook 35, with thefront face of the stop 27, the latclrvhook 35 will be cammed upward asindicated by broken lines, so that the hook nose `48 may be free to`engage the rear face 49 of the stop 27. Just enough tension is appliedto the carriage to draw it into engagement with the stop which at notime would be excessive. f

After the carriage has been brought to this position, that is theposition shown in Fig. 1, it is desired to lower the load lifting block.In order to lower the bloclrthe hook G must be released and this is donesimply-by paying slack on the operating cable 23 which permits thecarriage to move down the cableway 4 until the hook nose 48 engages therear tace 49 of the stop 27. Further movement of the carriage to theright, after this engagement, will move thepartsto the position shown inFig. 2 where it will be seen that the lock bar 14 has been moved to the,right by the lever 28 sullicient distance that the hook G is permittedto' rotate counter-clockwise and thus release its hold upon the bucketbail 8.

Referring to Fig. 2 it will be seen that the cam 39 is still in theposition shown in Fig. 1, but that the pawl 43 has been drawn intoengagement with the upper pawl tooth 46 so that when the pawl 43 isagain moved to the right it may turn the cam 39 so as to drop theweighted end of the latch 31.

lVhen the v,load has been released 'from the carriage thetension on theoperating cable 23 will draw the carriage to the lett thus moving thelatch. 31 into engagement with. the front face of the stop 27` again,which action -willcause the upper end of the lever 28 to be `moved tothe right as soon as the arcuate Jface 10 of the hook 6 is moved opposite the left end of the locking bar 14 which permits olf the movementof the lock bar 14 to the left.

After this action the parts will be in the position indicated in Fig. 3as soon as the carriage has been permitted to back `away slightly fromthe stop 2T. When the car-u riage is in this position it free to bemoved toward the stop 22 carrying the attached load with it as soon asslack is paid out on the operating `cable 23. It will be seen that thelatch 19 is in its lower position so `that the nose 26 ot this latch mayclear the stop 22 when the carriage has` been moved into engagement withthe stop. The

stop 22 will engage the nose 24 of the latch 19 which will cause thelatch to rotate counter-clockwise, thus bringing the nose 26 up behindthe stop 225:0 that it will'prevent movement of the carriage toward theleft when, thev operating cable 29 is subsequently pulled. l

The counter-clockwise movement of the latch 19 draws the latch link 16to the right thereby withdrawing the lock bar 14 from engagement withthe stop face 12 of the bail hook 6. Therefore, the instant the latch 19is actuated into the position shown iny Fig. 4, the bail hook 6 will befree to rotate to release the bucket when slack is paidrout on the cable23. The parts will then be in the position illustrated in Fig: 4.

Referring to Fig's. 3 and 4, it will be seen that'the cani 39 is in itshorizontal position so that the latch 31 is in its inclined position,

'which is the position it is tooccupy when the carriage is release'dfromthe stop 27. When the latch 19 is engaged by the stop 22 the movement ofthe lever 2S occasioned by the oscillation of the latch 19 through themedium of the link 16 draws the pawl 43 to the left so that it willagain engage the uppermost ratchet tooth 46 of the cam 39. This pawl isthen in` position to rotate the cam 39 to the position shown in Fig'. 1the instant Y the latch 19 is permitted to release its hold upon thestop 22. -The latch 19 is held in locked position by reason of theengagement of the left end of the lock bar 14 with the arcuatesurfacelll on the bucket hook 6. lVhen the load is elevated by pull-onthe cable 23 so that the' bail 8 passes into engagement with the nose` 9of the bail hook 6, they bail hoole will be rotated clockwise so thatthe lock-bar 14 may be moved to the left into engagement with thearcuate surface 10 so that the bail hook 6 will be held in lockedposition by reason of engagement of-the stop face 12 withthe under sideof the, lock bar 14, as illustrated in Fig. 1, which shows the positionof all parts at the time the carriage is released from the stop 22. Whenthe carriage has been drawn to the left by the operating cable 23 intoengagement with the stop 27,' the parts will be inthe position shown inFig. 1 with the latch hook 35 positioned over the stop 27. The device isnow in position for lowering the load and going through the same cycleof operations just described.

It will be seen fromv the foregoing that `'because the' release of theload while the earriage is in engagement'with the stop 27, isaccomplished by the backing away of the carriage by gravity, there is nodanger in excessive strains being applied tothe cableway 4 as is thelcase where the release of the load is accm'nplished by drawing thecarriage toward the stop 27.

f It is obvious that many changes may be made in the details of theapparatus` without departing from the spirit of the invention' and the'invention is not limited to the vspecific means' hereinl illustrated'and v described for accomplishing' the purposes of the invention.

Vhat I claim is:

1. A cableway carriage comprising' a frame having means for supporting'the same movably on the cable, a pair of spaced stops on the cable, areleasable load locking' means on the carriage and a latch at each endof the carriage having a connection therebetween adapted to operate onthe load locking` means, each latch being operated upon by itsrespective stop in either direction of travel of the carriage, and eachof said latches constructed to release the load lock ing'nieans uponmovement of the carriage alongthe cable in one direction and to lock theload upon movement of the carriage along` the cable in the oppositedirection.

2. A cableway carriage comprising' a frame having' means for supportingthe same movably on the cable, a pair of spaced stops on the cable, arelcasable load locking means on the carriage, and a latch at each endof the carriage having a connection therebetween adapted to operate onthe load locking' means, each latch having' means adapted to be operatedon by its stop to effect the release of the load locking means uponmovement of the carriage along the cable in one direction and to effectthe locking' of said means upon movement of the carriage along the cablein the opposite direction.

3. A cableway carriage for supporting a cable conveyed load, a cable, astop on said cable, a releasable load locking means on the carriage, alatch on said carriage adapted to engage said stop, and means associatedwith the latch and the load locking means for operating the latter fromthe latch, said latch operating to release the load locking means onmovement of the carriage away from the stop.

4. A cableway carriage for supporting a cable conveyed load, a cable, astop on said cable, a releasable load locking means on the carriage,means on the carriage adapted to engage said stop upon movement of thecarriage along the cable away from said stop and impart a releasingmovement to the load locking means, and means connecting said firstmeans with the load locking inea-ns. l

5. A cableway carriage, comprising in combination, a frame provided withsheaves to rnu on the cable, a load lock for suspending a load from thecarriage while the carriage is being' moved along the cable, a latchcari'ied at one end of the carriage adapted to engage a, stop on thecable to limit movement of the carriage along' the cable in eitherdirection when the latch is in operative holding position, means on 'thecarriage for actuating the latch to latching and unlatching' positions,and a second means connected With the bucket lock for actuating thefirst means when the bucket lock is operated.

6. A cableivay carriage, comprising in. combination, a frame providedWith sheaves, adapted to be run on a cable between a pair of spacedstops secured to the cable, a stop latch at one end ot the carriageadapted to automatically grip a stop When moved into engagementtherewith to limit the movement of the carriage along the cable, asecond stop latch carried at ,the other end of the carriage and normallyheld out of latching position, a cam for moving the second latch intooperative latching position, and means actuated by the unlatchingmovement of the iirst latch for moving the cam.

i'. A. cableway carriage, comprising in combination, a frame providedwith sheaves to run on the cable, a load lock for suspending a load fromthe carriage While the carriage is being moved along the cable, a latchcarried at one end of the carriage adapted to engage a stop on the cableto limit movement of the carriage along the cable in either directionwhen the latch is in operative holding position, a cam for actuating thelatch into latching and unlatching positions, and means connected Withthe bucket lock for actuating the cam when the bucket lock is operated.

8. A cableway carriage, comprising in combination, a frame provided withsheaves to run on the cable, a. load lock for supportting a load uponthe carriage While the carriage is being moved along lthe cable, a latchcarried at one end of the carriage adapted to engage a stop on the cable`to limit movement of the carriage along the cable in either directionwhen the latch is in operative holding position, a cam for actuating thelatch into latching and unlatching posi.- tions, and means connectedwith the load lock for actuating the cam to move the latch intooperative latching position every alternate movement of the load lock tolocking position.

9. A cableivay carriage for supporting a cable operated hoist,comprising in combination, a frame provided with sheaves to run on thecable, a hoist lock for supporting a load upon the carriage While thecarriage is being moved along the cable, a latch carried at one end ofthe carriage adapted to engage a stop on the cable tolimitmovementfofthe carriage along the cable in either direction when the latch is inoperative holding position, a lever for supporting the latch forlongitudinal and pivotal movement, a cam for supporting the latch inoperative latching position, a pawl carried by the latch for operatingthe cam when the latch is moved longitudinally, and means foroperatively conp necting the lever with the hoist lock.

l0. cableway carriage, comprising in combination, a frame provided Withsheaves to run on the cable, a load lock for suspending a load from thecarriage While the carriage is being moved along the cable, a latchcarried at one end of the carriage adapted to engage a stop on the cableto limit movement ol the carriage along the cable in either directionwhen the latch is in operative holding position, and means on thecarriage for actuating the latch alternately to latching and unlatchingposition when the carriage is drawn against the sto WILLIAM M. VENABLE.

